David Kreiger, a member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization South Florida (EO SOFLO), founded SalesRoads in 2006 to provide clients with business-to-business (B2B) appointment setting and sales strategies. Since its inception, all SalesRoads employees have worked remotely, while company has thrived, earning spots on the Inc. 5000 list and being named as a Fortune.com “Best Place To Work” for the past four years.

With the COVID-19 coronavirus forcing most companies to go virtual, Kreiger has developed a comprehensive set of strategies on the SalesRoads blog to help motivate and manage fully remote sales teams and other employees. Below are just a few highlights:

1) Communicate: Keep Your Team In Sync With Established Meeting Rhythms:

• Daily Huddle – Hold a 5-minute daily huddle to state one key goal for the day, core-value shout outs, or even a team cheer to end the meeting. These function as a barometer for your team and the challenges they are facing on the day to day.
• Weekly Team Meeting– A weekly meeting takes on extra importance in a disbursed environment when you have fewer opportunities to bring the entire group together to brainstorm solutions, disseminate vital data, and tackle big challenges.

Bonus Meetings Tip: Make a habit of recording your meetings and make them accessible to your team. This is incredibly helpful when you go back to execute on whatever work you strategized.

• “Another meeting that could have been an email” – or is it the other way around? Yes, email is used for important communication, but think critically on what you’re hoping to accomplish. Sometimes a quick 10-minute meeting can resolve what 10 emails cannot.

• Screen sharing is a vital part of conducting remote meetings, and it’s amazing how a three-page email can be distilled into a compelling 60 second video.
• Turn on your camera. There are numerous new and improving platforms today for video conferences, which enhance the human element and show you are alert and engaged.
• Create Clear Expectations –Although this is a best practice in any work environment, it is especially true in a remote setting as you can’t “stop by” your coworkers’ desk or nudge a gentle reminder during lunch.
• Instant messengers, such as Slack, are vital to facilitate quick and frequent communication, but beware not to let these channels turn into a distraction.

2) Boost Morale And Combat Loneliness

Although most employees love the idea of working from their home office, it can be isolating if you don’t take the proper steps to ensure people feel involved and invested in as people. Try:

• A virtual watercooler where people can use a channel in Slack to share their favorite recipes, pictures of their pets, vacation photos, personal news, birthday wishes, and whatever else would otherwise be reserved for the breakroom.
• Send e-cards and celebrate your team. We all love getting birthday cards or other acknowledgments. Being in a virtual environment doesn’t stop that, so sending e-cards is an easy way to connect, and delivering real cards or gifts is taking it an extra special step.
• Treat your employees to lunch. Send a gift card or order delivery from their favorite local restaurant. Connect virtually and chat over the meal.

3) Create A Productive At-Home Office Environment

Don’t blur the lines between work and home. When you work from home, home can start to feel like work, and this will tax your mental health. By creating boundaries, through your dress, environment, and interactions, you preserve the benefits of working from home while ensuring you remain productive.

4) Build a Culture of Trust and Accountability

Don’t get in the way of your own team by micro-managing how and when work should be done. Make your expectations clear, trust your team to work diligently, but then get out of the way. You’ll find this allows innovation and performance to abound.

“Like so many of our members, David has found creative solutions for his own business and clients to thrive in almost any situation,” said Jerry Katz, president of EO SOFLO and Premier Protection Insurance. “COVID-19 is a whole new challenge for most of us, and our organization is committed to help area businesses with information and other resources to overcome the challenge.”

The organization -- with almost 200 members in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties who run businesses with about 10,000 employees and $2 billion in yearly income --recently launched a “You Are Not Alone” initiative to help area businesses survive then thrive despite the economic fallout from the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis.

Founded in 1996, EO SOFLO fosters entrepreneurship and economic development through peer-to-peer learning and experience forums for members; sponsors student and start-up entrepreneurship competitions; partners with area colleges and business incubators; and leads other economic development efforts in the region.

For more information on EO SOFLO, visit www.eosoflo.com.

For more details on SalesRoads, and the full blog on remote productivity, go to www.salesroads.com.